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Theseus and the Minotaur (Myths and Legends)
Theseus and the Minotaur is the second episode of Disney's Animated Myths and Legends. It aired on January 2, 1998. The plot closely follows that of the mythological story and involves Theseus' quest to battle the Minotaur. Plot King Minos, the ruler of Crete, is feared by the kingdoms that surround him, and none of these feel his wrath more than the Athenians. After the death of the King's son, he has promised not to wage war on them as long as the Athenians keep up their end of the bargain; every seven years, fourteen men and women are taken to Crete on a black-sailed ship and imprisoned inside a giant maze called the Labyrinth, where they are subsequently slaughtered by the Minotaur, a half-bull monster which is the product of an affair his wife had with a pure white bull given to him by the god Poseidon, which the king refused to sacrifice. Although Minos' daughter, Ariadne, begs him to end this ritual sacrifice, he rebuffs her, telling her that "they (the Athenians), will pay the price" for the death of his son and her brother. Meanwhile, in Athens, Theseus, the Athenian prince, witnesses several young men and women being forcibly taken from their homes by Minos' soldiers. Alarmed by this, he tells his father, King Aegeus, who reveals that they must sacrifice the young men and women to the Minotaur, under threat of Minos waging war on them should they not comply. Theseus then decides to step up and slay the beast. Aegeus is initially unwilling, but allows his son to go on the condition that if he returns victorious, he must return to Athens on a white-sailed ship. As the ship sails towards Crete, Minos witnesses it arriving. Ariadne sees Theseus among the prisoners. When Minos comes to inspect them, Theseus steps forward, proclaiming that he will successfully kill the Minotaur. The king, however, laughs it off, telling him that nobody has ever gone into the Labyrinth and survived. That night, Ariadne enters Theseus' chambers and tells him about the reason her father's practice of sacrificing prisoners to the Minotaur and gives him something that will help him in the Labyrinth; a ball of string with which to guide himself to the monster and then, after defeating the Minotaur, use the string to guide himself back. The next morning, as Theseus prepares to enter the Labyrinth, Ariadne wishes him good luck. He ties one end of the string to a rock and uses it to walk through the maze, until he finally stumbles upon the Minotaur. Initially, the beast has the upper hand and when he tries to kill Theseus, the hero retaliates by using his sword to first incapacitate the Minotaur and eventually decapitates him. Victorious, Theseus exits the Labyrinth and presents the Minotaur's severed head to Minos. Amazed at how his rival's son successfully managed to conquer the beast, he vows to end the ritual killing of young Athenians and frees the prisoners and Theseus leaves, taking Ariadne with him. On the way back, Ariadne asks Theseus if he will marry her, to which he accepts. Aegeus, meanwhile, witnesses the ship sailing back to Athens with a black sail (in the sailors' excitement, they forgot to hoist the white sail). Thinking his son has perished, the king commits suicide by jumping into the sea. After Theseus learns this, he honors his late father's memory by becoming King, marrying Ariadne and christening the sea as the Aegean, as well as causing Athens to rise up and become the powerful city it is today. Trivia * Grey DeLisle beat out Kath Soucie, Tara Strong, Jennifer Hale and Alyssa Milano for the voice of Ariadne. * The Minotaur is one of a number of creatures in the series not to be voiced by Frank Welker. * Jason Marsden and Grey Delisle auditioned for the roles in this episode while on break from Oliver and Company:The Series. They were also used as the physical models for their respective characters of Theseus and Ariadne. * Pasiphaë, Minos' wife and the Minotaur's mother, is not seen or mentioned. * Kevin Michael Richardson, Jim Cummings and Maurice LaMarche were all originally considered to voice the Minotaur until Clancy Brown beat them out. * Minos' son who is killed in Athens is Androgeus. The circumstances of his death, however, vary. In some versions of the myth, the Athenians kill him after winning the Panathenaic games, in others, the bull which impregnated his mother kills him when he tries to fight it. Transcript Theseus and the Minotaur (transcript) Category:Episodes Category:Fanon Works Category:Fanon